DIY at The Homestead

With warmer weather comes DIY.  First up this year is some much needed maintenance on The Homestead.  Last year, the northern neighbors' home went into foreclosure. The new owner hired a contractor to do a lot of work on the inside and outside.  With that came a huge dumpster parked in the next door driveway.  I took "advantage" of the situation and asked the contractor if he'd clean out behind of my garage.  You see, when I moved there the previous owner(s) used the two foot wide area as a dumpster for tree branches and brush.  For $100, the guy had a kid clean it up for me.  The contractor informed me that the plywood covering the garage windows was badly rotten and asked if I wanted him to remove it... at no extra cost.  Of course!  Who wouldn't?

I replaced the plywood last Fall, but the weather turned cold before I could get it painted.  My first project this year was to primer/paint the windows.  A primer/paint combo is the best thing ever!!

Next, I put new mulch on one the flower beds.  This one will be full of hostas before long.

The above photo is what it looked like before.  And now, it's all pretty again with cypress mulch.  (Side Note:  It's been over six months since I had the roof replaced and I'm still admiring how good it looks, LoL -- Yeah, I'm strange like that!) Still need to trim up that bush.

Lastly, I've been tackling the window trim.  The basement windows and garage windows are wood clad.  They really needed a scraping and new paint.

I used a round brass brush that attaches to a drill to scrape the old peeling paint.  I worked great!  Who'da thunk it?  It sure beat using a scraper.

I really should have removed all the dried caulk from around the grilles on the garage window, but I figure I'll go back later and do it when the weather is a bit warmer.  

Plus the grilles will need another coat of paint.  I can kill two birds with one stone.  For now, it looks much, much better.

I'm still trying to figure out why there is a 1" eye hook screwed into the bottom frame of the window.  I tried to take it out, but it's in there pretty good!

Until Next Time...